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A long time ago (relative to our blog’s history), we published the first of many frequently-asked-question articles about retention of email. The answer we give today when people ask how long to keep email is still the same (“it depends!”), but we have since published many more articles dissecting the topic. Today, we’ve compiled a…

We originally published an article addressing this question back in 2013, but some state agencies have wondered if the answer has changed since the administrative rules were updated this year. So, let’s take a look at what the new edition of Bulletin 1 says. While there is not an explicit paragraph in the rules stating…

Recently, we have received many questions about metadata. Most of the inquiries about metadata revolve around two questions – What is metadata and why is it important. The purpose of this article is to discuss whether metadata is part of an electronic record and if so why. So, what is metadata? Metadata is the information…

This is the second in a two-part series exploring the Texas Digital Archive (TDA) with Electronic Records Specialist Mark Myers of the Archives and Information Services (ARIS) division at TSLAC. Mark is responsible for ingesting electronic records into the TDA. Part one can be viewed here. 1. What happens to records once they are received…

Picture this: you’ve gathered up all the records subject to an expunction order and you’re ready to return, destroy or redact them as directed by the court. Then you look at the expunction order. It identifies the person in the order and it’s a government record. What do you do with it? Based on how…

This is the first in a two-part series exploring the Texas Digital Archive (TDA) with Electronic Records Specialist Mark Myers of the Archives and Information Services (ARIS) division at TSLAC. Mark is responsible for ingesting electronic records into the TDA. It’s interesting to ponder that just a few years ago TSLAC had no way of…

If you’ve spent any amount of time perusing the local government retention schedules on our website—it is fair to assume this is the case if you’re reading this post in the first place—then you may have noticed in the Remarks section of certain record series a warning to “review before disposal…for historical reasons”. Have you…

Minutes are produced by every local government and state agency in Texas. They are afforded the most enduring retention period of PERMANENT for both Local Governments and State Agencies. In the Records Retention Schedule (RRS) for state agencies, minutes are given the distinct honor of being the only series on the schedule that requires both…